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Strengthening the Croatian capital market

The EBRD has facilitated training on capital markets for the benefit of the Zagreb Stock Exchange and local investors.

The Croatian capital market is one of the most developed of the south-eastern European countries, however the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) and local regulators identified the need to strengthen the know-how among Croatian market participants in order to increase market liquidity and attractiveness.

Supporting longer term investment initiatives

Maintaining and deepening the securities market in Croatia has many advantages, in particular for smaller enterprises that by accessing local equity finance can diversify their high reliance on bank financing and better support long-term investment projects. In addition, a strong capital market can help channel savings into domestic investments.

The ZSE has received a grant from the Luxembourg government, facilitated by the EBRD, aimed at the development of the Croatian capital market through the assessment of training needs and the design of a capital market training programme, along with formal training of the trainers.

The series of 10 tailored training sessions held in 2010 covered issues such as security trading, derivative products, investor protection and services for investors, corporate governance and market transparency. Forty participants, including ZSE personnel, financial intermediaries, institutional and private investors learned about European best practices in financial instruments and increased their awareness of capital markets systems.

The ZSE Training Academy

As a result of the programme, 15 participants became trainers and, most importantly, the ZSE was able to create and launch the Training Academy of the ZSE, an institution which is now able to independently transmit to a large number of brokers, traders and investors the foundations of financial knowledge and how to contribute to the growth of the Croatian economy.